8 Visual Marketing Ideas You Need to Try

Content marketing is constantly evolving and challenging marketers to do more and better. Almost every day, there is a new trend that marketers need to follow.

Additionally, people’s interests are waning—there is so much content available to them that they don’t know what to look at.

Visual marketing has made a major impact in the way people engage with branded content. Content marketing statistics have shown that social media posts and blogs that include images tend to enjoy higher engagement.

So, how can marketers leverage visual marketing to consistently reach audiences? There are a number of ideas that they can incorporate, but it can be difficult to brainstorm new concepts in short amounts of time.

If you are looking for new ways to enliven your visual marketing plan, the below eight visual marketing ideas should get you started.

Infographics

Image Credit: Venngage

Visual marketing is intrinsically tied into storytelling, and one of the best ways to tell a brand story in a cohesive, informative, and entertaining way is by using the humble infographic.

Infographics are an excellent visual resource and engage audiences no matter where they encounter them—on social media, websites, newsletters, or blogs.

For marketers looking for value addition with their visuals, they can’t go wrong with infographics—they have the unique ability to combine graphics, imagery, text, and icons, all in one neat package that is bite-sized, yet attractive.

As visual marketing ideas go, infographics are well placed to share large amounts of information with audiences, without taking up too much of their time, which is exactly what marketers need.

Repurpose Content

Speaking of infographics, they are also a great resource for repurposing content. Blog posts, eBooks, and white papers—which are text heavy and require too much attention from their audience—can all be repurposed into infographic material.

This will help marketers reach new audiences who may not have had the time or means to access long-form written content.

Another way to repackage written material to reach different audience segments is by creating podcasts and presentations. And presentations themselves can be used to create eBooks.

A series of blogs could be packaged together as an eBook as well, and old blog posts could be given a new lease on life with updates and contemporary visuals—read this article about optimizing new and old blog posts for more information.

Almost all content can be reused and updated in some way or other to share on other platforms where users may not have encountered the content before.

Not only does repurposing content allow you to reach different audience groups, but it also saves marketers from having to create new content all the time.

Use GIFs

People on the internet love GIFs—Twitter and WhatsApp both have dedicated GIF galleries so that users can easily access their favorite reaction GIF when they want.

Including GIFs in your visual marketing will help your brand look on-trend, while also allowing you to connect better with the millennial audience pool.

But GIFs aren’t only about looking cool with the kids—GIFs have the ability to share a message and emotions, which is why they are such a powerful visual asset.

Use a GIF in your social media posts and blogs every so often, but make sure it’s relevant and not problematic. You don’t want to overdo the GIF use either, as that may come across as immature and off-brand.

You can also create your own branded GIFs by adding your logo or creating brand-related GIF content. You can do this by editing parts of an existing video and turning it into a GIF.

GIFs are fun and everyone enjoys encountering them online. Plus, they will make your brand look relatable, which will increase your engagement and eventually, your conversions.

Memes

Source: Netflix

Another way to reach the millennial audience is through memes. Using memes in your visual marketing will showcase how on-trend your brand is and make your content more engaging.

This is because memes are relatable, imminently shareable, and a conversation-starter. But this is an area where marketers need to tread carefully, even more so than with GIFs.

If used correctly, memes can be a great way of connecting with your audience—however, they can also make your brand look like it’s trying too hard.

It is best to use memes sparingly and after doing some research—the last thing you want to do is use a meme that has fallen out of fashion.

Look at other brands for inspiration—Netflix are particularly good at interspersing their informational content with memes. It is a balancing act that you can emulate.

Using memes is one of the great visual marketing ideas that allow you to connect with your audience in a fun and engaging way, while also keeping your brand on-trend and relevant.

Videos

Video is the future, and marketers need to get on board with the concept as quickly as possible. Every industry, from hotel marketing to manufacturing companies are using videos to sell their products and services to customers.

Creating a video can be a daunting task for marketers—consumers expect a standard of quality that isn’t always achievable without high-end and expensive equipment.

But that isn’t a reason to not indulge in video marketing at all. Most phone cameras now take decent quality videos, and if you use a tripod to improve stability, it will make your video far more watchable.

There are numerous ways to use videos to engage with audiences—go behind the scenes, share highlights from an event, conduct interviews, showcase customer testimonials, the list is endless.

When making a video, it is always important to include your branding to improve recall. Add your logo in a conspicuous area without overwhelming the content.

And always add a strong call-to-action (CTA) that will lead to conversions.

Go Live

Live streams are gaining in popularity and are exempt from many of the constraints that video production has to deal with.

Live video doesn’t have to be perfect—in fact, if it is flawless, consumers will doubt its authenticity.

Influencers popularized the use of Instagram Live video, with celebrities following the trend, before brands got in on the action, with great success.

Marketers can now go live using Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, or YouTube, depending on their audience and the message they want to send.

And, like pre-produced videos, live videos can be a great way to show behind-the-scenes action, host Q&As with consumers, and tease upcoming content.

Live video also helps to put a face and voice to the brand, which makes the company more personable for consumers.

Host a Takeover

Inviting guests—influencers, celebrities, industry experts, or even someone from inside the company—to take over a social media platform for a period of time can be an excellent way to spruce up your content plan and the way you engage with audiences.

Influencers and celebrities have popularized the Instagram takeover, though Twitter and Facebook takeovers have been known to happen.

No matter the platform for the takeover, brands have greatly benefited from the process.

A takeover essentially allows a brand access to a whole new target market that they may not have been able to reach on their own.

Takeovers also enliven your visual content for the day—with a guest sharing their photographs and videos on your platform, you get to showcase new kinds of content that will live on your page for as long as possible.

Takeovers are a great way of shaking up your content plan and engaging with new audiences and takeovers are another of the many visual marketing ideas you can use.

User Generated Content

Marketers don’t just have to ideate new content streams—they often have to create content themselves, or work closely with teams to do so.

But there is a way to have your cake and eat it too with regards to content creation—user generated content.

Brands have found that asking their users to share pictures of themselves interacting with the brand or the product has led to more followers and more engagement.

This is because people like being noticed by their favorite brands, and everyone wants the bragging rights from being featured on a brand’s social media.

Additionally, by sourcing user generated content, marketers don’t need to create content for a certain period of time.

Running a user generated content campaign will help marketers engage with their audience, grow their following, and save time on content creation.

Conclusion

It isn’t always easy to think of new ways to boost audience engagement but these eight visual marketing ideas should help you do just that.

Try not to think too far out of the box—make do with the tools that you have in your arsenal, and you will find your engagement rates improving over time.

Ronita Mohan is a content marketer at Venngage, the online infographic and design platform. Ronita is interested in a variety of topics related to digital marketing, visual content, and online engagement, which she enjoys researching and writing about.

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